Caddy vs Nginx

After migrating a production Hugo site from Nginx to Caddy with Cloudflare integration, I’ve experienced firsthand why Caddy represents the future of web servers. Here’s an in-depth look at why Caddy outshines Nginx across multiple dimensions.

Table of Contents

• Automatic HTTPS: The Game Changer
• Configuration Simplicity
• Security Out of the Box
• Modern Protocol Support
• Certificate Management
• Developer Experience
• Performance and Efficiency
• Cloudflare Integration
• Error Handling and Debugging
• Real-World Migration Example
• When to Choose What
• Conclusion

Automatic HTTPS: The Game Changer

Caddy’s Approach

Caddy’s most revolutionary feature is automatic HTTPS. When you configure a domain, Caddy:

• Automatically obtains SSL/TLS certificates from Let’s Encrypt
• Handles certificate renewals automatically
• Redirects HTTP to HTTPS without any configuration
• Supports OCSP stapling by default

Configuration:

example.com {
    root * /var/www/html
    file_server
}

That’s it. HTTPS is automatic, secure, and production-ready.

Nginx’s Approach

With Nginx, HTTPS requires:

• Manual Certbot installation and configuration
• Separate renewal scripts via cron
• Manual redirect configuration from HTTP to HTTPS
• Certificate path configuration
• SSL protocol and cipher suite configuration

Configuration:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name example.com;
    return 301 https://$server_name$request_uri;
}

server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    server_name example.com;
    
    ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/example.com/fullchain.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/example.com/privkey.pem;
    ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;
    ssl_ciphers HIGH:!aNULL:!MD5;
    ssl_prefer_server_ciphers on;
    
    root /var/www/html;
    index index.html;
    
    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
    }
}

Winner: Caddy - The time saved and complexity reduced is immeasurable.

Configuration Simplicity

Side-by-Side Comparison

Let’s compare a real production configuration for a Hugo static site with basic authentication on a downloads directory.

Nginx (verbose, complex):

server {
    listen      80;
    server_name "";
    return      444;
}

server {
    listen 80;
    root /var/www/html;
    index index.html index.htm;
    server_name example.com www.example.com;
    
    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
    }
    
    location ~* \.(css|js|png|jpg|jpeg|gif|svg|ico|woff|woff2|ttf|eot|otf)$ {
        expires 1y;
        add_header Cache-Control "public";
    }
    
    location ~ /\.ht {
        deny all;
    }
}

Caddy (clean, readable):

example.com {
    tls /etc/caddy/certs/origin.crt /etc/caddy/certs/origin.key
    root * /var/www/html
    file_server
    
    @static {
        path *.css *.js *.png *.jpg *.jpeg *.gif *.svg *.ico *.woff *.woff2 *.ttf *.eot *.otf
    }
    header @static {
        Cache-Control "public, max-age=31536000"
    }
    
    try_files {path} {path}/ /index.html =404
    
    header {
        -Server
        X-Content-Type-Options "nosniff"
        X-Frame-Options "DENY"
        Referrer-Policy "no-referrer-when-downgrade"
    }
    
    encode gzip
    
    log {
        output file /var/log/caddy/access.log
        format json
    }
}

Why Caddy’s Config is Superior

1. Human-readable syntax: No semicolons, clearer nesting
2. Self-documenting: Directives are named intuitively
3. Less repetition: Multiple domains in one line
4. Automatic defaults: Hidden files blocked by default, no need for .htaccess rules
5. Built-in formatting: caddy fmt standardizes your config

Winner: Caddy - Dramatically simpler and more maintainable.

Security Out of the Box

Caddy’s Security Advantages

Caddy ships with secure defaults that would require extensive configuration in Nginx:

1. TLS 1.2+ Only: Modern protocols by default
2. Strong Cipher Suites: Automatically configured
3. OCSP Stapling: Enabled automatically
4. Hidden File Protection: .git, .env, .htaccess automatically blocked
5. Security Headers: Easy to add and maintain
6. No Server Header: Can remove identifying information easily

Caddy security headers (3 lines):

header {
    -Server
    X-Content-Type-Options "nosniff"
    X-Frame-Options "DENY"
}

Nginx equivalent (15+ lines):

server_tokens off;
add_header X-Content-Type-Options "nosniff" always;
add_header X-Frame-Options "DENY" always;
add_header Referrer-Policy "no-referrer-when-downgrade" always;

location ~ /\. {
    deny all;
    access_log off;
    log_not_found off;
}

ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;
ssl_prefer_server_ciphers off;
ssl_ciphers ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256...;

CVE History

Caddy’s Security Track Record:

• Written in Go (memory-safe language)
• Fewer security vulnerabilities historically
• Automatic updates don’t break configurations
• Smaller attack surface

Nginx’s Challenges:

• Written in C (prone to buffer overflows)
• More CVEs over the years
• Complex configuration can introduce vulnerabilities
• Larger codebase = more potential issues

Winner: Caddy - Secure by default, memory-safe implementation.

Modern Protocol Support

HTTP/2 and HTTP/3

Caddy:

• HTTP/2: Automatic (no configuration needed)
• HTTP/3/QUIC: Automatic (experimental, can be enabled)
• ALPN: Automatic

Nginx:

• HTTP/2: Requires manual configuration (http2 parameter)
• HTTP/3/QUIC: Requires separate build or third-party modules
• Must configure protocols explicitly

Caddy configuration for HTTP/2:

example.com {
    # That's it - HTTP/2 is automatic!
}

Nginx configuration for HTTP/2:

server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;  # Must explicitly enable
    listen [::]:443 ssl http2;
    # ... rest of config
}

Winner: Caddy - Future-proof with zero configuration.

Certificate Management

Let’s Encrypt Integration

Caddy’s Certificate Management:

• Fully automatic certificate issuance
• Automatic renewals (no cron jobs needed)
• Multi-domain support (SAN certificates)
• Wildcard certificates with DNS challenges
• No external tools required
• Certificates stored in /var/lib/caddy

Nginx Certificate Management:

• Requires Certbot installation
• Manual cron jobs for renewals
• Separate renewal testing
• Risk of expired certificates if cron fails
• Must reload Nginx after renewal
• Complex DNS challenge setup

Cloudflare Origin Certificates

Both support Cloudflare Origin Certificates, but with different complexity:

Caddy (1 line):

tls /etc/caddy/certs/origin.crt /etc/caddy/certs/origin.key

Nginx (10+ lines):

ssl_certificate /etc/nginx/ssl/origin.crt;
ssl_certificate_key /etc/nginx/ssl/origin.key;
ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;
ssl_ciphers HIGH:!aNULL:!MD5;
ssl_prefer_server_ciphers on;
ssl_session_cache shared:SSL:10m;
ssl_session_timeout 10m;
ssl_stapling on;
ssl_stapling_verify on;
resolver 1.1.1.1 1.0.0.1 valid=300s;

Winner: Caddy - Set it and forget it.

Developer Experience

Configuration Testing and Validation

Caddy:

# Validate configuration
caddy validate --config /etc/caddy/Caddyfile

# Format configuration
caddy fmt --overwrite /etc/caddy/Caddyfile

# Reload without downtime
caddy reload

# Adapt to JSON to see what Caddy understands
caddy adapt --config /etc/caddy/Caddyfile

Nginx:

# Test configuration
nginx -t

# Reload (only way to test syntax)
nginx -s reload

# No built-in formatter
# No JSON output for debugging

Error Messages

Caddy:

• Clear, descriptive error messages
• Pinpoints exact line numbers
• Suggests fixes
• JSON structured logs

Nginx:

• Often cryptic error messages
• Generic “configuration file test failed”
• Requires deep knowledge to debug
• Plain text logs

Live Reload

Caddy:

• caddy reload applies changes with zero downtime
• Validates before applying
• Rolls back on error
• No dropped connections

Nginx:

• nginx -s reload can drop connections
• Must test separately with nginx -t
• No rollback mechanism
• Risk of downtime on misconfiguration

Winner: Caddy - Developer-friendly at every step.

Performance and Efficiency

Resource Usage

Caddy:

• Written in Go: Efficient garbage collection
• Lower memory footprint for typical workloads
• Single binary deployment
• Minimal dependencies

Nginx:

• Written in C: Manual memory management
• Can be more efficient for extreme high-traffic (10k+ req/s)
• Requires compilation for some features
• More system dependencies

Benchmarks (Typical Small-to-Medium Site)

For a Hugo static site with ~100-1000 req/s:

Important Context: These numbers are for typical workloads. At extreme scale (10k+ requests/second):

• Nginx maintains efficiency with lower resource usage
• Caddy can use 2-3x more CPU and memory under sustained high load
• Both can handle the load, but Nginx does it more efficiently

Compression

Caddy:

• encode gzip (1 line)
• Brotli support built-in
• Automatic content-type detection

Nginx:

• 10+ lines of gzip configuration
• Brotli requires module compilation
• Must specify content types manually

Winner: Caddy for ease of use; both perform similarly once configured

Cloudflare Integration

Full (Strict) SSL Mode Setup

This was the real-world scenario that sparked this article. Both Caddy and Nginx work well with Cloudflare, but with different complexity levels.

Caddy Setup (Total: 5 minutes):

1. Get Origin Certificate from Cloudflare
2. Save certificate files:

/etc/caddy/certs/origin.crt
/etc/caddy/certs/origin.key

3. Add one line to Caddyfile:

tls /etc/caddy/certs/origin.crt /etc/caddy/certs/origin.key

4. Set Cloudflare to “Full (strict)”
5. Reload Caddy: systemctl reload caddy

Done! No OCSP errors (cosmetic warning only), minimal configuration.

Nginx Setup (Total: 15-20 minutes):

1. Get Origin Certificate from Cloudflare
2. Save and configure certificate paths
3. Configure SSL protocols and ciphers (10+ lines)
4. Configure OCSP stapling (optional but recommended)
5. Test configuration: nginx -t
6. Reload Nginx: systemctl reload nginx
7. Set Cloudflare to “Full (strict)”
8. Verify

Cloudflare-Specific Considerations

Both Support:

• Cloudflare Origin Certificates (15-year validity)
• Full (strict) SSL mode
• Authenticated Origin Pulls
• Real visitor IP forwarding

Caddy Advantages:

• Can also use automatic Let’s Encrypt with Cloudflare DNS challenge (via cloudflare-dns module)
• Simpler configuration syntax
• Better for dynamic environments

Nginx Advantages:

• More documentation and examples for Cloudflare setups
• Better caching for proxied content
• More mature ecosystem

Verdict: Both work excellently with Cloudflare. Caddy is simpler for origin certificates, while Nginx offers more control for complex caching scenarios.

Error Handling and Debugging

Troubleshooting a Non-Working Site

Real scenario: Site configured but returns 522 error (Cloudflare can’t connect).

Caddy Debugging Process:

# Check status
systemctl status caddy

# Validate config
caddy validate --config /etc/caddy/Caddyfile

# Check logs (structured JSON)
journalctl -u caddy -n 50

# See what's listening
ss -tlnp | grep caddy

# Test direct connection
curl -I https://localhost

Clear error messages lead you directly to the issue (in our case: firewall blocking port 443).

Nginx Debugging Process:

# Check status
systemctl status nginx

# Test config
nginx -t

# Check logs (unstructured text)
tail -f /var/log/nginx/error.log

# See what's listening
ss -tlnp | grep nginx

# Test direct connection
curl -I https://localhost

Errors are less clear, requiring more experience to diagnose.

Log Quality

Caddy Logs (JSON format):

{
  "level":"info",
  "ts":1700000000.123,
  "logger":"http.log.access",
  "msg":"handled request",
  "request":{
    "remote_ip":"1.2.3.4",
    "remote_port":"12345",
    "proto":"HTTP/2.0",
    "method":"GET",
    "host":"example.com",
    "uri":"/",
    "headers":{
      "User-Agent":["Mozilla/5.0..."]
    }
  },
  "bytes_read":0,
  "user_id":"",
  "duration":0.001234,
  "size":1234,
  "status":200,
  "resp_headers":{
    "Content-Type":["text/html; charset=utf-8"]
  }
}

Nginx Logs (Plain text):

1.2.3.4 - - [18/Nov/2025:20:00:00 +0000] "GET / HTTP/2.0" 200 1234 "-" "Mozilla/5.0..."

Caddy’s JSON logs:

• Easy to parse with tools like jq
• Searchable and filterable
• Structured for log aggregation (ELK, Splunk)
• Includes timing and performance data

Winner: Caddy - JSON logs are the future.

Real-World Migration Example

The Scenario

Hugo static site with:

• Custom domain (vlaicu.io)
• HTTPS through Cloudflare
• Password-protected /downloads directory
• Static asset caching
• Security headers

Migration Steps

From Nginx (50 lines) to Caddy (35 lines):

1. Install Caddy (5 minutes):

curl -1sLf 'https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/caddy/stable/gpg.key' | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/caddy-stable-archive-keyring.gpg
curl -1sLf 'https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/caddy/stable/debian.deb.txt' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/caddy-stable.list
sudo apt update
sudo apt install caddy

2. Convert Configuration (10 minutes):

   • Translate Nginx directives to Caddy syntax
   • Simplify basic auth configuration
   • Remove unnecessary SSL configuration

3. Setup Cloudflare Origin Certificates (5 minutes):

   • Download certificates from Cloudflare
   • Place in /etc/caddy/certs/
   • Add single tls line to Caddyfile

4. Test and Deploy (5 minutes):

caddy validate --config /etc/caddy/Caddyfile
systemctl stop nginx
systemctl start caddy

5. Fix Firewall Issue (10 minutes):
   • Discovered port 443 blocked by nftables
   • Added Cloudflare IPs to allowed list
   • Site immediately functional

Total Migration Time: ~35 minutes (including troubleshooting)

Issues Encountered

Nginx → Caddy:

• Firewall configuration (not Caddy’s fault)
• Changed basicauth to basic_auth (minor syntax update)
• OCSP warning (cosmetic, doesn’t affect functionality)

Previous Nginx Issues (now solved):

• Manual Let’s Encrypt renewals
• Complex SSL configuration
• Verbose configuration files
• Certbot cron jobs
• Manual HTTP→HTTPS redirects

When to Choose What

Choose Caddy If:

✅ You want automatic HTTPS with zero maintenance
✅ You value configuration simplicity
✅ You’re running small to medium-sized sites (under 5k req/s)
✅ You want modern protocols (HTTP/2, HTTP/3) automatically
✅ You prefer secure defaults
✅ You’re using Cloudflare (simple origin certificate setup)
✅ You want better developer experience
✅ You’re starting a new project
✅ You value maintainability over maximum performance

Ideal for:

• Static sites (Hugo, Jekyll, Next.js, Gatsby)
• Small to medium web applications
• API gateways with moderate traffic
• Microservices
• Personal projects
• Startups
• Development and staging environments
• Docker/container deployments

Choose Nginx If:

✅ You need maximum performance and efficiency (10k+ req/s sustained)
✅ You have deep Nginx expertise in your team
✅ You need advanced proxy caching
✅ You’re running legacy applications
✅ You require complex load balancing
✅ You need specific third-party modules
✅ Resource efficiency is critical (limited RAM/CPU)
✅ You have very high traffic requirements

Ideal for:

• High-traffic production sites (10k+ requests/second)
• Complex enterprise applications
• Sites requiring advanced caching strategies
• Legacy systems
• When you need specific Nginx modules
• Resource-constrained VPS instances
• Teams with existing Nginx expertise
• Maximum performance is critical

The Middle Ground: Both!

You can use both:

• Caddy as edge reverse proxy (handles SSL, redirects, auto-HTTPS)
• Nginx as application server (specific caching, performance needs)

example.com {
    reverse_proxy localhost:8080  # Where Nginx is running
}

This gives you Caddy’s ease of use with Nginx’s specific capabilities where needed.

Configuration Comparison Cheat Sheet

Common Nginx Patterns in Caddy

Reverse Proxy

Nginx:

location / {
    proxy_pass http://localhost:3000;
    proxy_set_header Host $host;
    proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
    proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
    proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
}

Caddy:

reverse_proxy localhost:3000

Load Balancing

Nginx:

upstream backend {
    server backend1.example.com;
    server backend2.example.com;
    server backend3.example.com;
}

server {
    location / {
        proxy_pass http://backend;
    }
}

Caddy:

reverse_proxy backend1.example.com backend2.example.com backend3.example.com

URL Rewriting

Nginx:

rewrite ^/old-path/(.*)$ /new-path/$1 permanent;

Caddy:

redir /old-path/* /new-path/{uri} permanent

FastCGI (PHP)

Nginx:

location ~ \.php$ {
    fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php/php8.1-fpm.sock;
    fastcgi_index index.php;
    include fastcgi_params;
    fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
}

Caddy:

php_fastcgi unix//run/php/php8.1-fpm.sock

The Ecosystem and Community

Caddy’s Advantages

Modern Development:

• Active development on GitHub
• Written in Go (easy to contribute)
• Plugin system (Caddy modules)
• Excellent documentation
• Responsive community

Plugin Ecosystem:

• Cloudflare DNS
• Dynamic DNS
• Rate limiting
• Authentication providers
• Custom handlers

Nginx’s Strengths

Mature Ecosystem:

• 20+ years of modules
• Battle-tested in production
• Massive community
• Extensive documentation
• Commercial support (Nginx Plus)

Third-party Modules:

• ModSecurity (WAF)
• PageSpeed
• Brotli compression
• GeoIP
• Hundreds more

Winner: Depends - Nginx has more modules, Caddy has better core functionality.

Cost Considerations

Open Source Versions

Caddy:

• Free and open source
• All features included
• No enterprise upsell
• Commercial use allowed

Nginx:

• Free open source version
• Some features only in Nginx Plus
• Nginx Plus costs $2500+/year per instance
• Commercial use allowed

Hidden Costs

Caddy:

• ✅ Zero configuration time
• ✅ No certificate management overhead
• ✅ Minimal maintenance
• ✅ Faster debugging

Nginx:

• ❌ Configuration complexity = developer time
• ❌ Certificate management scripts
• ❌ Regular updates required
• ❌ Longer debugging sessions

Winner: Caddy - Total cost of ownership is lower.

Migration Path from Nginx to Caddy

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Install Caddy Alongside Nginx

# Install Caddy
sudo apt install caddy

# Keep Nginx running on port 80/443
# Configure Caddy on port 2015 for testing

2. Convert Configuration

Use this mental mapping:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name example.com;
    root /var/www/html;
    
    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
    }
}

Becomes:

example.com:2015 {
    root * /var/www/html
    file_server
    try_files {path} {path}/ =404
}

3. Test Caddy Configuration

caddy validate --config /etc/caddy/Caddyfile
caddy run --config /etc/caddy/Caddyfile  # Test mode

4. Switch Over

# Stop Nginx
sudo systemctl stop nginx

# Update Caddyfile to use port 80/443
# Remove :2015 port specification

# Start Caddy
sudo systemctl start caddy

5. Monitor and Adjust

# Watch logs
journalctl -u caddy -f

# Check performance
htop

6. Remove Nginx (Optional)

sudo apt remove --purge nginx nginx-common
sudo rm -rf /etc/nginx

Security Hardening Comparison

Caddy’s Built-in Security

Automatic:

• TLS 1.2+ only
• Modern cipher suites
• OCSP stapling
• Hidden file protection
• Server header removal

Easy to add:

header {
    -Server
    X-Content-Type-Options "nosniff"
    X-Frame-Options "DENY"
    X-XSS-Protection "1; mode=block"
    Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=31536000;"
    Content-Security-Policy "default-src 'self'"
}

Nginx Security Hardening

Requires manual configuration:

server_tokens off;
ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;
ssl_prefer_server_ciphers off;
ssl_ciphers ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256;

add_header X-Frame-Options "DENY" always;
add_header X-Content-Type-Options "nosniff" always;
add_header X-XSS-Protection "1; mode=block" always;
add_header Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=31536000" always;

location ~ /\. {
    deny all;
}

location ~* \.(git|svn|htaccess|htpasswd|env)$ {
    deny all;
}

Winner: Caddy - Secure by default saves time and reduces risks.

Real Performance Metrics

Independent Benchmarks (2022-2025)

Based on comprehensive third-party testing:

Tyler Leonhardt’s “35 Million Hot Dogs” Benchmark (2022):

• Test setup: AWS c5.xlarge (4 cores), 35+ million requests
• Caddy uses more CPU resources (up to 300% vs Nginx’s 100% with default config) but handles similar throughput for static files
• Memory usage: Nginx ~60MB baseline, Caddy ~40MB baseline, but Caddy can spike to 1GB under extreme load with large files
• Failure modes differ: Nginx drops connections when overwhelmed, Caddy slows down but continues accepting requests

LinuxConfig.org Comprehensive Benchmark (September 2025):

• NGINX and OpenLiteSpeed consistently delivered the best results, with Caddy performing competitively in the middle tier alongside LiteSpeed and Lighttpd
• Apache had the lowest performance, especially in high-concurrency tests

Resource Usage Reality Check:

• Older benchmarks (2017) showed Caddy using 3x CPU and 2.5x memory of optimized Nginx for only 33% performance, but Caddy developers acknowledged focus was on features over performance at that time
• Modern Nginx: “Low resource footprint with minimal memory usage even under heavy load”
• Caddy has improved significantly since early versions but still uses more resources under extreme load

Real-World Static Site Comparison

Typical Small Hugo/Jekyll Static Site:

Before (Nginx):

• Memory: ~25-35MB
• Config: 30-50 lines
• Certificate management: Manual with Certbot

After (Caddy):

• Memory: ~15-25MB (idle), can spike under load
• Config: 20-30 lines (more readable)
• Certificate management: Automatic
• Real-world performance: Can handle 10,000+ requests/second on modern hardware with proper tuning

Important Context: For small-to-medium sites (under 1,000 requests/second), the performance difference is negligible. Both serve content in 1-3ms. For high-traffic sites (10k+ req/s), Nginx has a clear advantage in resource efficiency.

The Verdict: Why Caddy is Better for Most Use Cases

After this comprehensive comparison and real-world migration, here’s the honest assessment:

1. Time Savings

• 40% less configuration code
• Zero certificate management overhead
• Instant reloads
• Faster debugging

2. Security

• Secure by default
• Memory-safe language (Go)
• Automatic HTTPS
• Modern protocols built-in

3. Developer Experience

• Readable configuration
• Clear error messages
• JSON logs
• Built-in formatting

4. Maintenance

• No cron jobs
• Automatic renewals
• Self-documenting config
• Easier to hand off to team members

5. Modern Features

• HTTP/2 automatic
• HTTP/3 ready
• Zero-downtime reloads
• API-driven configuration

The Honest Performance Picture

Reality Check: For 95% of websites (under 1,000 requests/second), the performance difference is negligible and Caddy’s ease of use wins. For the 5% handling extreme traffic, Nginx’s resource efficiency and battle-tested performance at scale makes it the better choice.

Conclusion

Nginx is a phenomenal web server that has served the internet well for two decades. It’s battle-tested, highly performant under extreme load, and powers millions of websites. It remains the best choice for high-traffic sites and complex enterprise deployments.

Caddy represents the modern web server philosophy: automatic HTTPS, secure defaults, simple configuration, and excellent developer experience. For most use cases—especially small to medium-sized sites, development environments, and projects where ease of maintenance matters—Caddy is the better choice.

Should You Switch?

Switch to Caddy if:

• You’re starting a new project
• You want to reduce maintenance burden
• You value simplicity and security
• You’re running small to medium-sized sites (under 1,000 req/s)
• Developer experience matters to your team
• You use or plan to use Cloudflare

Stick with Nginx if:

• You’re running high-traffic sites (10k+ req/s sustained)
• You have deep Nginx expertise in your team
• You rely on specific Nginx modules or caching features
• You need maximum resource efficiency
• Migration cost outweighs benefits
• You have complex enterprise requirements

Final Thoughts

After migrating from Nginx to Caddy, I appreciate the reduced complexity and automatic certificate management. For my Hugo static site with moderate traffic, Caddy is perfect. The time saved on configuration and maintenance is significant.

However, I’m honest about the trade-offs: if I were running a high-traffic API serving 10,000+ requests per second, I’d seriously consider Nginx for its proven performance at scale and lower resource consumption under extreme load.

The best web server is the one that fits your needs. For 95% of websites, that’s Caddy. For the other 5% handling massive scale, that’s Nginx.

Nginx taught us what a web server should be. Caddy shows us what a web server can be when prioritizing developer experience and automation.

Resources

Caddy

• Official Site: https://caddyserver.com/
• Documentation: https://caddyserver.com/docs/
• GitHub: https://github.com/caddyserver/caddy
• Community Forum: https://caddy.community/

Nginx

• Official Site: https://nginx.org/
• Documentation: https://nginx.org/en/docs/
• GitHub: https://github.com/nginx/nginx

Migration Tools

• Nginx to Caddy Converter: https://github.com/caddyserver/nginx-adapter
• Caddy Config Adapter: Built-in to Caddy

This article was written based on a real production migration from Nginx to Caddy, including debugging firewall issues, configuring Cloudflare Origin Certificates, and setting up a Hugo static site with authentication. All configuration examples are production-tested.

Last Updated: November 18, 2025